2014 Law Student Diversity Scholarship Application – Submission Deadline: March 31, 2014
Scholarship Requirements:
DRI announces its annual Law Student Diversity Scholarship program, open to rising (2014–15) second- and third-year African American, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American students. All rising second- and third-year female law students are also eligible, regardless of race or ethnicity. Any other rising second- and third-year law students who come from backgrounds that would add to the cause of diversity, regardless of race or gender, are eligible to apply. Students who are members of the American Association for Justice (AAJ), law school or law student members of AAJ, or students otherwise affiliated with or employed by AAJ are not eligible for DRI Law Student Diversity Scholarships. To qualify for this scholarship, a candidate must be a full-time student. Evening students also qualify for consideration if they have completed one third or more of the total credit hours required for a degree by the applicant’s law school. The goal of these scholarships is to provide financial assistance to two worthy law students from ABA-accredited law schools to promote, in a tangible way, the DRI Diversity Statement of Principle. See the last page of this application for the DRI Diversity Statement.
Two scholarships in the amount of $10,000 each will be awarded to applicants who best meet the following criteria:
- Demonstrated academic excellence
- Service to the profession
- Service to the community
- Service to the cause of diversity
Applications must include three recommendations, one each from the following individuals:
- Dean or an associate dean of the student’s law school
- A current or past law professor
- An individual who is personally acquainted with the applicant, but who is not related by blood
- line or adoption.
Additionally, each applicant must include a cover letter with his or her application. In that cover letter each applicant should identify his or her academic, personal, and professional accomplishments and how those accomplishments qualify him or her for a DRI Law Student Diversity Scholarship award.
Essay Requirements:
In addition to submitting the attached application and required recommendations, applicants must complete an essay of no more than 1,000 words based upon the following question:
The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules (Advisory Committee) is seeking public comment on a proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure aimed at reducing the costs and burdens of discovery. The two most important amendments are a rewrite of Rule 37(e), which regulates sanctions for failure to preserve discoverable information, and a revision to Rule 26(b)(1), which redefines the scope of discovery. The proposed amendments also include changes to rules 1, 4, 16, 26, 30, 31, 33, 34, 36, and 37. For a copy of the proposals, see http://www.uscourts.gov/uscourts/rules/preliminary-draft-proposed-amendments.pdf. Please discuss the pros and cons of the passage of the proposed amendments with regard to their effect on defendant businesses in civil litigation, commenting on those provisions that will have the most dramatic effect on business and indicating why.
Submission Deadline:
Applications and all other requested materials must be received by March 31, 2014. Scholarship winners will be notified in advance and officially announced at the DRI Diversity for Success Seminar scheduled for June 12–13, 2014, in Chicago, Illinois.
Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.
All applications, essays and required materials must be submitted in hard copy format to:
Tim Kolly, Director of Communications DRI—The Voice of the Defense Bar 55 West Monroe Street, Suite 2000 Chicago, IL 60603